By Ngan Ho
Baltimore Sun
BALTIMORE — A Baltimore Police sergeant is critically ill on life support after he was dragged by a car for about two blocks during a traffic stop Tuesday evening in Northwest Baltimore, Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said.
The Northwest District sergeant was making a vehicle stop minutes after 8 p.m. in the 5100 block of Park Heights Avenue in the Central Park Heights community when he “became engaged with the vehicle,” Harrison said.
“The driver hit the gas and accelerated, dragging the sergeant,” Harrison said later Tuesday night at Shock Trauma. He said the driver also struck another car in the process of fleeing.
The officer received immediate medical aid, Harrison said, then was rushed to Shock Trauma and was admitted about 8:30 p.m., according to officials.
“He is critically ill. He is on full life support. Our diagnostic studies are ongoing,” said Dr. Thomas M. Scalea of Shock Trauma, adding that the sergeant will be moved to the intensive care unit “in the not-too-distant future.”
Harrison said detectives have some “pretty good leads,” but he didn’t go into details.
Mayor Brandon Scott also spoke and implored the public to contact investigators if they can help.
“I hear a lot about what our police officers in Baltimore aren’t doing and what they won’t do, but what we have tonight is a sergeant who is on life support here at Shock Trauma because he was exactly where he should have been, doing exactly what he should have been doing,” Scott said.
“We have to understand where this happened. This is a neighborhood in a particular block that has had issues with violence for as long as I’ve been breathing. Having spent a significant amount of my childhood in that neighborhood, having spent a lot of time on that block particularly, we have to understand why our officers are there.”
Said Harrison: “The officer was doing exactly what we want them to do, out there being proactive. Making sure citizens are being protected. Find people who are doing harm, and making sure the Northwest District is a safe place.”
Anyone with related information is asked to contact Baltimore Police at 410-396-2100 or Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7LOCKUP.
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